The Promise
by dianakotori
Summary: Tag to 12x13 'Spencer': Promises are made to be broken, or so they say. Aaron Hotchner did it more times than he cared to remember. There's one promise, however, that he's kept since the very day he made it, ten years ago, to a broken young man after a night in a cold cemetery in Georgia. Will he be able to keep it, or will he have to break it to protect the one he loves the most?


_Welcome._

 _Thank you for your interest in this story._

 _I haven't been able to watch any of the Season 12 episodes yet, but I watched some clips in YouTube and this came up to mind._

 ** _Warnings:_** _It contains spoilers, angst, mentions of drug use and lots of speculation._

 _I'm not a native English speaker. Every critique concerning the story, including spelling and grammar, will be highly appreciated._

* * *

 **THE PROMISE**

 **A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction**

 _"Trust, is the stone thrown into the sea, sinking deep in all its murkiness, unable to see what it once lived and believed to be a promise."_

 _―_ _Anthony Liccione ―_

-v-v-v-

This February morning was cold and cloudy, shrouding the imposing Hong Kong skyline in a sad, grey haze. A slight rain danced endlessly in the wind, making it uncomfortable to stay outside.

Albert Hammond sighed in front of his top floor window, as he saw cars and people on the street below moving quickly, like ants at his feet, running away from the wet weather. Taking a sip of his coffee, he grimaced. It was perfect, just as Beth used to prepare them, but today, for some reason, he found it bitter and cold. The frown that had made a home in his face for the last fifteen years, and that had faded a little in the last few months, was back again, as deep as ever.

Suddenly, he felt the arms of the woman that he loved surrounding him from behind, and felt the weight of her head leaning on his back.

"A penny for your thoughts," she said, her voice muffled by the silk of his bottle green pyjamas. "Last night you didn't sleep at all."

"Sorry if I woke you up," he sighed again. "I guess I'm not used to share the bed with someone yet. It's been a long time."

"You know?" she made him turn around and face her. "Jamie is sleeping in his room. He's safe and so are you. I don't think you-know-who has the slightest idea where you are, and you know it. I know he made a mess with your life and that it has kept you awake at night many times, but I think this is different. I believe there's something else bothering you."

Albert smiled softly.

"Now you're a profiler," he said.

"I've learnt from the best," she smiled. She took his hand encouraging him to follow her to the couch, where she made him sit next to her, placing his half empty cup on the coffee table, to be able to hold his hands. He was somewhat trembling. "Now tell me what's going on in that mind of yours."

Albert lowered his sight.

"These days I've been having a bad feeling," he explained. "It has nothing to do with you, or me, or Jamie. I know you-know-who would not be able to find us here… however…"

She stared at him expectantly.

"Do you remember Dr. Spencer Reid?" he asked.

"Of course yes."

"For some reason, I can't take him out of my head. It's been like that for weeks already. I'm really worried about him."

"Albert, you had to leave from one day to the next. You didn't have the chance to say goodbye. It's normal to worry about people from the past, most of all if you can't contact them. I'm sure they're fine, working as usual 24/7 to trap you-know-who and have you back."

"I know. He's probably alright but… last night I dreamt about him falling in an open tomb in the dark, in an abandoned cemetery. He could not get out. He was crying and screaming. I woke up when he yelled my name. He was so scared, so desperate… It just reminded me of something that happened to him a long time ago. I wish I could know how he is."

Beth sighed. She knew that to feel this way was selfish, horrible and unfair for Aaron, for Jack, and for their family and friends back in America… but she had been _secretly thankful_ to Peter Lewis for allowing her to recover what she thought she'd lost. Now, looking at how worried Aaron was for his colleague, she regretted her thoughts instantly.

"I'm sorry," she said, embarrassed of her own feelings.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, my love. This is not your fault."

A heavy silence fell upon them.

"Dad! Dad?" Jamie yelled from the hallway. Albert could hear the distress in him clearly, just like the day he was arrested in front of him.

"What's going on, Buddy?" he asked, getting up hurriedly.

"Uncle Spence is on TV," the boy said. His voice was not happy, as it always was when Jamie referred to his beloved uncle, the young man who knew the best magic tricks and fantastic stories about spaceships and princesses, or wizards and magic rings. "Why are they pushing him like they do to the bad guys? Is he OK? He looks so sad…"

Albert's heart skipped a beat. He ran to the TV room, to find a special CNN bulletin showing on the local news channel. What he saw broke his heart in pieces like a mallet through a glass door. He stared at the screen, open mouthed.

Spencer Reid was but the shadow of the man he used to be.

He was scrawny and dishevelled, walking slouched between two cops, outside a courthouse in Virginia. His face was inexpressive, but his moist eyes reflected an immense pain, embarrassment and fear. The dark circles around them looked like bruises on his sickly pale skin. He was wearing handcuffs when he was forced to get in the back of a police car. In the middle of the crowd surrounding him, Albert could clearly see Emily, David, that new agent Luke Alvez and further away, Derek and his wife. They all had the same expression of sadness and disbelief that probably was now on his own face.

 _What the hell happened?_

He took the remote control and turned up the TV volume.

 _"…former Supervisory Special Agent with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI, where he worked for fourteen years, before allegedly committing murder in the person of Nadie Ramos, in a motel room in Matamoros, Mexico. He was caught while driving under the influence, with a cocktail of illegal drugs in his system, and several packages containing heroin and cocaine in his trunk…"_

 _Driving under the influence? He… relapsed?_

"Oh my God…"

Albert didn't wait to listen the rest of the bulletin. He tossed the remote on the couch and ran to the bedroom he had been sharing with Beth since the day he and his son arrived to Hong Kong with their new identity. He took a suitcase out of the closet and started to open cupboards and drawers, taking any clothes he found and throwing them inside the suitcase carelessly, hangers included.

"Albert, what are you doing?" Beth asked from the door, watching him moving from one side of the room to the other.

"This can't be happening," the man said absently. _He couldn't have relapsed,_ he thought. _He promised me he'd never do that, the same day I promised I was always going to be there for him._

"Albert…"

 _But I was not there. I let him down. I abandoned him when he needed me the most. It was so hard for him to admit in front of me what happened at that cabin when he was kidnapped and tortured… It was a secret. His most intimate, his most horrible secret!_

"I can't believe he did what they say," he continued, almost to himself. "I can't believe they're stripping him of his dignity like this now, on worldwide television. This is a mistake. I have to fix this."

"Albert…"

He closed the suitcase and went to grab his smartphone, to call the airport and get in the next flight to America, no matter what.

"Aaron! Stop!"

She ran to him, and tried to take the phone out of his hands.

"Beth, what are you doing?" he asked, his voice dangerously loud in the middle of the rainy morning. "I need to go to help him! I promised! I cannot break that promise!"

"Aaron, don't you realize?"

"What?"

"It's a trap! You're doing exactly what Peter Lewis wants!"

"Of course is a trap. It's obvious. Believe me… if Reid had become a murderer, he'd be really the most difficult unsub to catch. He's smarter than any of us. I know he's innocent. And I can't abandon him. Not now. He is where he is because of me. Ten years ago he chose me and I couldn't keep my promise. I'm sick and tired of letting people down. I'm sick and tired of living like this, hiding like a rat, when the true rat is out there, hurting my family."

"Your family is here. Your family is Jack. Do you want him to become an orphan? He should be the most important for you. I... I know how you feel… I know Spencer Reid is your friend, but he's an adult. Your son is just a child. You can't abandon him. He's the one you can't let down. Reid has the rest of the team to help him. Jack has only you."

"Beth…"

"Please… I know it hurts, Aaron, but… Just don't go. Please stay… for Jack… and for me."

The man dropped the phone on the bed and his eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Then, he saw his son, silently standing at the bedroom door, his eyes wide open with uncertainty and fear. He beckoned him to approach and hugged him tightly. That embrace brought up the painful memory of another one, on the day he made that promise.

Chasing a murderer, he put his family in the second place. That mistake was very expensive, and the price was Haley's life. He was not going to make that mistake again, putting himself at risk this time.

"Dad, did uncle Spence do something wrong?" the child asked, innocently. "Are you going to help him?"

Aaron loved Reid almost like a son, yes. But for his own blood, for his own family, it was impossible to keep his promise.

"No, Buddy. I'm sure he did nothing wrong... but I can't help him. I can't help him."

 _I'm sorry, Spencer. I'm so, so sorry..._

-v-v-v-


End file.
